137 J. Black Sea/Mediterranean Environment Vol. 22, No. 2: 137-148 (2016) RESEARCH ARTICLE Differences in the otolith shape between the Marmara and Northern Aegean Sea stocks of blotched picarel (Spicara maena Linnaeus, 1758) Burak Saygılı * , Ali İşmen, Mukadder Arslan İhsanoğlu Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, TR-17100, TURKEY *Corresponding author: buraksaygili@gmail.com Abstract In this study, the differences between the otolith morphometry of Spicara maena individuals in the North Aegean Sea and Marmara Sea have been investigated. The samples were obtained with set nets and line fishing in the North Aegean Sea: Dikili, Altınoluk, and Küçükkuyu, and Marmara Sea: Karabiga, Bandırma, and Tekirdağ shores between February and October 2013. In total, 155 individuals from the North Aegean Sea and 168 individuals from the Marmara Sea were sampled. The coordinates and distance of the points on otolith were determined with image analysis program Image J 1.47v. The otolith shapes of the stocks were compared by the discriminant analysis method. The differences between the otoliths of the individuals sampled from North Aegean Sea and Marmara Sea are statistically significant (P<0.05). The discriminant analysis successfully explained the difference between the two stocks at 73.5%. The results showed that the S.maena stocks obtained from the North Aegean Sea and the Marmara Sea might be different. Keywords: Blotched picarel, Spicara maena, Marmara Sea, North Aegean Sea, otolith morphometry Introduction Spicara maena (Linnaeus 1758), which is a species of the picarel fish, is found in herds generally in Posidonia oceanica meadows, areas of rocky and muddy bottom types (Miller and Loates 1997; Imsiridou et al. 2011). It is commonly observed in the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, as well as waters off Portugal, Morocco and Canary Islands (Jardas 1996). Conversion into male (protogynous hermaphrodites) is observed in S.maena female individuals (Breder and Rosen 1966; Imsiridou et al. 2011). The picarel fish catch amount was determined as 349,9 year/tons for 2014 by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK-Turkish